sensen-i - Tumblr blog

sensen-i · 4 years ago

Text

I can do nothing but reblog this post 🙌

Chapter 139: Final chapter, initial thoughts.

I’m still processing the final chapter, so these are very much my initial reactions…

My first thought is that I have no doubt that this is exactly the ending Isayama always intended. It’s contradictory, ambiguous, and frustrating, and in many ways it leaves us with more questions than answers, but it’s entirely in keeping with the rest of the story. In many ways it’s exactly the kind of ending I expected, and while I appreciate it in the context of the story, there’s a lot there that I can’t condone or pretend to like.

My feelings for Eren haven’t changed at all. There can be no justification for genocide. Eren didn’t save the world, he destroyed it. I guess to his credit he does acknowledge this, he knows there can be no forgiveness for what he’s done, however he never answers Armin’s question about whether it was necessary to go so far. His vague excuses that he was following a pre-ordained path, and that past and future all existed at the same time, don’t really cut it as justification for wiping out 80% of humanity. To be honest though, one of the things that disturbs me most about Eren and Armin’s conversation is Armin’s willingness to forgive Eren. I’ve never warmed to Armin, primarily because I’ve always felt that he had a deeply ambiguous moral compass and this chapter has only strengthened that conviction. There is no question that Armin is complicit in this genocide, for him then to set himself up as the one who killed the Attack Titan and saved the world is repugnant.

I’m not sure what to say about Ymir and Mikasa, I don’t really understand what message we’re supposed to take away from Ymir’s story. That we can’t choose who we fall in love with? That love can only lead to pain? That Stockholm Syndrome is a thing? (It’s not, it’s highly contested at best.) And as for Mikasa herself, I had really hoped that she would be able to move on from Eren, but I guess that was never going to happen, she’s an Ackerman after all.

I’m equally bemused by Historia’s arc. I still don’t understand her actions, unless Eren mind wiped her along with everyone else. Perhaps she just wanted to have a child to give it the love she never experienced as a child herself? Who knows.

It’s depressing to see Paradis overrun by fascist extremists, but at the same time it’s not at all unrealistic. Extreme violence can only ever lead to extremism. Even Eren acknowledged that he is responsible for making “all of Paradis Island start killing each other”. Although I appreciate the realism of the political situation on Paradis, I do worry what message people will take from this. From my perspective, nothing in Isayama’s story promotes extremism as being a Good Thing, countless characters have spelled this out, even Eren himself, who acknowledges those on Paradis Island who opposed what he did and kept their humanity. However Isayama’s messages can be ambiguous at best and obscure at worst, and I’m concerned that there will always be a hard core of fans who strongly identify with the Jeagerists and who will use this story to justify their own intolerance and extremism.

Although, there’s a lot to criticize in this chapter, one thing I did rather like was the way Isayama employed the mind wipe. I knew it had to come into play at some stage, but I never expected that Eren had already manipulated his friends’ memories. I’m really confused about Mikasa though. Did Eren wipe her memories too? I thought Ackermans were supposed to be immune to the Founding Titan’s power.

Which brings us on to Levi. I have so many feelings about Levi’s ending. Although part of me will always wish that Levi had died and been reunited with Erwin in the afterlife, I’m happy that he got to see all his comrades, and to know that they witnessed him fulfilling the goal that they had dedicated their hearts to. Honestly, it makes me so emotional. In a way I’m glad that Levi didn’t join the diplomatic mission to Paradis, he’s already played his part and given everything he ever had to give. Let him go off and see the world with Gabi, Falco and Onyankopon, he deserves it. I used to joke that I wanted Levi to have one last shining vision of shoujo Erwin before he died, and he got that, only he didn’t need to die for it.

Despite these criticisms, I still think this story is an incredible achievement on Isayama’s part and, regardless of how it ended, I am so thankful for all the friendship, joy and heartache this series has brought me. The editor’s note at the end of the chapter says it all.

“We believe that nothing is more valuable than people being able to share in emotions that can not be put into words through a story.”

Thank you Isayama.

#snk spoilers #snk 139 #thank you isayama

340 notes · View notes